The Soul walked, the forest welcoming his presence. At least that’s what it seemed. Animals followed him, birds sang songs that on any other day they wouldn’t have sang and the trees rustled their beautiful leaves as he passed. The breeze that flowed through the woods spoke a name. Ambrós. It was a familiar name. Was it his? Maybe, maybe not. Whatever the case, he decided to take the name as his own, feeling content to finally have a name again after all these years.

Not too far from where he was, there was a small town surrounded by a wall, Whitemane. The residents of this city were ponies, although a few humans had taken up residence ever since the human civil war ended a decade before. It was a peaceful place, one that didn’t see much strife, except for the occasional wolf packs getting a little too close to the gates.

Two pony guards were standing on the wall, looking out towards the treeline line that was the southern Equestrian border. One of them was tired, his eyes closing as sleep wanted to embrace him. He would not drift off into dreamland, however, as his fellow guard jumped up, eyes focusing on the treeline. He could barely make out a silhouette walking towards the town. He kept his gaze focused on it until the shape of a human became visible. He left his post, his fellow guard simply closing his eyes and beginning to snore.

“Who goes there?” The guard said, having waited in front of the gate for the human to arrive.

“I am Ambrós. I come from a place far away and am unfamiliar with what Equestria is like nowadays. I simply wish to rediscover what it is like.” The pony eyed the human, a warm, calming sensation filling his body when he looked into his eyes.

“Very well, you may enter. Try and stay out of trouble.” Ambrós thanked him, going through the gate as the guard opened it. The streets were bustling with activity, ponies hurrying from place to place, baskets in their hands. Ambrós smiled. It was familiar to him, even though he didn’t have any memories of his life before the Void, the feeling of pony and human presence resonated inside him.

From where he was, he saw an inn on the right side of the main street of the town. He walked towards it, making sure not to bump into any of the busy ponies.

“Hey there, what can I do for ya?” Ambrós looked to his right, someone speaking to him once he opened the door. It was a pony. A pegasus to be exact. Female, bluish fur with a hint of green. Her man was short and a simple white. Her hand was outstretched.

“I’m simply looking for some information.” He took the mare’s hand, shaking it lightly. She gestured towards the bar, a human male standing behind it.

“Ask Francis, he can tell you anything and everything you need to know. I’m Clear Sweep, by the way.” He gave her a slight bow and approached the bar, the man placing a drink in front of Ambrós.

“First one’s on the house.” It was cider, a lovely beverage. In one swig the drink was gone.

“Delicious.” Francis took the glass, placing in the sink.

“Aye, it’s cider brewed on the farm right outside the wall. Can’t get it better anywhere else. Unless you go to Sweet Apple Acres, of course.” Ambrós made a mental note. It was always good to remember names.

“I’d believe it. Now… you wouldn’t happen to know where I could find… umm… a pony whose fur is pure white, would you? If it helps, she has wings and a mane colour that is not common.” The man scratched his head, giving another patron a drink.

“Hmm… I mean, there’s loads of white furred ponies around. Pegasus narrows it down… no more details you can give me?” Ambrós searched his limited memories. His frustration grew, his scarf beginning to flow a bit like fire. Then he remembered.

“She is a noble. She… she had a calming presence about her, one that would calm any beast almost instantly.” Francis nodded, a smile appearing on his face.

“Well, friend, I can tell you who she is. You’re looking for Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria. She has a coat of pure white. Wings that any pegasus would be jealous of. A horn that any unicorn would wish they could use, to gain access to all her magical knowledge. Her mane is of many colours, flowing freely in a nonexistent breeze. Finally, her cutie mark, a sun, symbolises her connection with the sun itself, her magical power enough to move it.” Ambrós felt a feeling in his chest. It must be her, that description fit what he vaguely remembered perfectly.

“Thank you for your help good sir. I must take my leave now, seeing as I have an urgent matter to discuss with Princess Celestia. Would you be so kind as to tell me where I can find her?” Francis pulled a map out from under the bar, pointing at the bottom of it.

“Well, we’re here, on the southern border of Equestria. You want to head north until you get to Ponyville, then either follow the trail leading east or catch the train.” Ambrós thanked Francis, waving goodbye to Clear Sweep on his way out. When he got out, he felt a shiver go down his spine. Something was coming. It was big and he wasn’t the only one who felt it. The ponies all froze in place, the humans looking around, confused.

“DRAAAGOOOON!” A guard shouted from the wall, a massive winged beast roaring as it descended upon the city, roaring and breathing fire as it passed by the main square. Ponies and humans ran for their lives, the guards organising themselves and firing arrows up at it. Ambrós felt something stir inside him. He instantly remembered what it was. Magic.

“Citizen, you have to get out of here!” A guard shouted to him, the dragon landing behind him, crushing some of the market stalls. Ambrós jumped in front of the guard as the dragon let loose a breath of fire. The guard saw the fire harmlessly pass around them both. When the dragon paused for breath, a sword and shield magically appeared in Ambrós hands.

“My Soul burns hot in anticipation of this battle, dragon. My memories of times long forgotten are returning and with them, my eagerness to relieve the battles of old. Shall we dance?” The dragon roared, Ambrós running forward, sword of pure white raised above his head. The dragon pulled his head back, the sword clipping it’s lower jaw. The dragon was confident the sword would do nothing, but yelped in pain as the blade cut through his armour and into his skin like a hot knife through butter.

“You shall pay for that, hatchling.” The dragon reared on its hind legs and slammed back down on to the ground, the earth cracking as the human jumped to avoid the shaking. Ambrós landed on the dragon’s back, the beast trying to shake him off. It took flight, flames coming from it’s maw as it rolled to try and shake the human off. The guards on the ground watched with wide eyes, speechless.

“That the best you got, dragon?” This only served to anger the beast further, fire encasing them both. Ambrós just let the flames pass over him, his scarf now completely alive as his Soul expressed itself through it.

Not too far away, Princess Celestia was sitting in her carriage, four pegasus guards pulling the her and her fellow princesses, Luna and Twilight towards Whitemane. Suddenly the pegasus guards started to descend.

“What is the meaning of this? Why are we descending?” Luna was frustrated. They needed to inspect this magical anomaly. It was inside Equestria’s borders and it was dangerous. If Celestia was right, it had the same power of Twilight Sparkle right before her ascension. Luna hadn’t felt it and neither had Twilight, so they could only trust Celestia on this one.

“Sorry, Ma’am, but there’s a dragon in the sky up ahead. Whitemane is burning, so I can only assume the worst.” While she barely heard the guard’s words, she caught the gist of it, seeing the dragon in the distance. They landed in the fields not far away from the dragon. It was acting strange though.

“Sister, is the dragon not behaving strangely? It does not seem to be attacking the city at all.” Celestia watched the dragon, agreeing with her sister. It was indeed behaving strange. She didn’t have much time to think when she felt the same magical pulse from before. Her heart skipped a beat.

On the dragon’s back, Ambrós tapped into his magical power. His scarf turned blue, his blade becoming covered in ice. He brought his sword up above his head, both hands wrapped around the hilt as his sword aimed downwards. He positioned himself above the dragon’s weak spot. A small opening between two scaly plates of armour.

“This has been a good fight, dragon! I shall remember it in honour of you!” He plunged the icy blade into the dragon’s body, the beast roaring as it’s veins began to freeze. It tried one last desperate roll to kill Ambrós. When that didn’t work, the dragon simply let its heart freeze, feeling at least honoured to have died in combat. It plummeted from the sky, slamming into the ground and sliding to halt right in front of the princesses. The three of them had their magic at the ready, hands glowing just incase the dragon decided it wasn’t dead after all. They waited for the dust to clear, hearing someone moving around near the dragon. When the dust did eventually clear, Celestia couldn’t believe her eyes.

“Y-You...you’re alive…” Standing there, in front of Celestia, right hand resting on the hilt of his sword, shield in the other, was someone she knew from long ago.

“Celly?” Ambrós’ memories of Celestia came flooding back. Every single one. Even the last one he had… he pushed that away, concentrating on the present. “Celly!” He was taggle hugged by the princess, the infamous Sun Hug almost doing what the dragon couldn’t do.

“After all these years, you’re alive! How?!” Celestia didn’t want to let go of him, but she did to let him breath, feeling his fist pound her back. He gasped for breath, the other two princesses and the guards completely lost at this point.

“I was in the Void. It’s an empty place where souls are confined to wander alone for eternity. I was given a second chance, Celly.” The princess could have given him another bone breaking hug if not for Luna stepping between them.

“Sister, I do believe an explanation is in order.” Celestia blushed, realising she let herself get carried away. Ambrós raised an eyebrow at Luna. She was familiar, but she wasn’t.

“Well, Luna, you wouldn’t remember. You weren’t around when he was staying at the castle. The last time you saw each other was when you were a month old.” Ambrós’ eyes widened. He remembered.

“THIS is Luna?” He raised his shield slightly. “This shield appeared to me the night you were born. It’s called Crescent Dusk. The excess magic that your body couldn’t absorb when you born created it for me. I used it to block a mighty blow from a powerful foe.” Celestia’s eyes darkened when he said that, memories coming back.

“You… are you this friend my sister spoke of?” Celestia looked away from Ambrós, his questioning gaze upon her.

“I’m sorry. I hid your existence from everypony. I didn’t want any crazy lunatic to try and break the seal on… It.” Celestia saw her friend nod, a small smile on his face. It turned to a frown a moment later, when Twilight spoke up.

“Now, Princess. You said that he gave up his physical body to defeat… this foe. If he’s got it back, then what does that mean?” All eyes were upon Celestia, yet it was Ambrós who spoke up.

“It means that my seal is weakening day by day. If the Dark Star has appeared, I fear we have little time.” He looked to Luna, who nodded, confirming his fears. “We must prepare. If we can get enough support from all of the races, we might just be able to defeat him.” Right then, a group of guards approached from the city.

“Princesses.” They all bowed, the Captain stepping forward.

“Captain Storm Guard, your majesty.” He bowed to Celestia, who told him to rise, asking him his purpose there. “We have come to make sure the dragon is dead and to invite the slayer to the Mayor’s Office, as he wishes to thank the human for saving the city.” After a moment of debating, the princesses decided to accompany the guards on foot, the carriage guards following too.

Ten minutes of walking later, they walked through the gates, the townspeople cheering and bowing as they passed through the streets towards the house on the hill that was the Mayor’s Office. Once inside, they were greeted by the Mayor himself.

“My my, I seem to have quite the company today. Welcome to Whitemane, Your Majesties.” He then looked towards Ambrós. “So, you are the human who save my city?” The human nodded, a smile appearing on the Mayor’s face. “Excellent. We shall celebrate this immediately!” The Mayor, whose name was Money Saver, quickly set the staff on organising a feast in Ambrós’ name. Ambrós quickly became enamored with the Mayor's dog, Balgwoof.

A long, laughter filled meal and a farewell later, the carriage was on its way, Ambrós sitting close to Celestia, the air flowing through his hair. It was a quiet flight, Celestia’s horn lighting up, the sun beginning to set beyond the horizon as Canterlot came into view. For now, they would rest. Even so, Ambrós knew that come morning, he would need to begin preparing for his fight against Azelus, to avoid the events of the past from repeating themselves.

Learn from your mistakes, they say. Ambrós had about two years to do it.

Author's Note

Took me a while to decide how I wanted to do this. The picture was done by my wife. Here's a link to her DeviantArt if you like the style of drawing: netsu06